Bravery
by AwesomeSaucelv8
Summary: If heroes wear red, and heroes are brave, then surely we are all brave? In which Ayano gives her brother her bravery.


**Vdodbkb I'm not dead what is this-**

**I am so sorry for just dying. And sorry Tenny, I will PM you tomorrow mark my words. My iPod is flashing at me to stop, it's had enough. So. **

**I was just doodling around and suddenly my head came up with a thing. Do enjoy. **

* * *

Ayano knew at once that it was raining outside. She was very smart for a seven year old. She knew it was raining because she heard something like a thump on the window and her brilliant mind came to the conclusion that it was not, in fact, the neighbour's dog splatting on the screen but raindrops. And that meant it was raining.

She also knew it was raining because, for once, she was up after her parents. Rain always made her tired.

"Good morning, Ayano!" Said her mother cheerily. Ayano grumbled a response in reply, as any normal seven year old ought to, and sat at the table to await her breakfast. Just then her father appeared behind her, scaring her like her always did and then giggling like a child when Ayano hit him back.

They ate breakfast like any normal family before Ayano's father had to leave for work.

"What's your work, mummy?" Ayano asked while her mother washed the dishes. Her mother regarded her curiously.

"Why, I'm a hero, of course!" She laughed, and Ayano laughed.

* * *

"Mummy, why do you always wear that silly red thing?"

Her mother looked down, but instead of being hurt she smiled and patted Ayano on the head.

"It's not silly. Red is a heroic colour." Said her mother. Ayano's eyes went wide.

"Is it like a disguise?"

"... Something to that effect."

"Oh! You're like a superhero!" Ayano clapped her hands with childish glee, finally having cracked the code. Her mother feigned surprise with astonishing accuracy that Ayano knew no different.

"Oh no! Don't tell daddy, okay? He doesn't know yet." She knelt down by the girl, and said girl giggled and shook her head.

"I won't, promise!"

And the next day, when Ayano went shopping with her parents, Ayano pointed to a bright red scarf and yelled, "Mummy, can I have that one?"

Her mother said yes. So she bought it. And then, Ayano felt just as cool as her mum.

* * *

They hadn't told her until the day before about the news. In all honesty, Ayano thought that, in their old age, her parents were getting senile.

"I'm going to have a sister?"

"Yes," said her father for the umpteenth time. "And two brothers."

"Three?" Ayano gasped incredulously. She looked back and forth between her parents, who looked dead serious. "But- but mummy isn't even pregnant!"

For some strange reason, her parents both cracked into grins and laughed. However, to Ayano, this was no laughing matter.

"How can you have three babies? What if- what if you explode?!"

Her mother just kept laughing but her father seemed to have calmed down quite a bit.

"Honey, we're adopting them." He said, swatting at his daughters face with a rolled up newspaper.

"Oh." Ayano was relived and quiet for a moment. Then, "What's that?"

Her father explained to her what an orphan was, and how daddy's work let him take all three children.

"So it's like kidnapping then?"

Despite Ayano's confusion, she never did quite get an explanation.

* * *

When they arrived, Ayano was very sad. They all looked very sad. All three had red eyes which was sort of scary but her father explained that she had nothing to worry about.

"Ayano, welcome your new siblings."

And welcome them she did, bringing them all to their rooms. "My name's Ayano." She said chirpily, because kids always liked chirpy people. "I'm your big sister now, so I have to protect you from all the bad guys."

There was silence as the kids sat there, staring. Ayano had to think of something to do...

"I know!" She said, pointing a finger to the sky. "Superheroes! We can play that!"

She fished out her old red scarf and placed it around her neck. "See? Red's always the colour of heroes!"

There was something like awe in the children's eyes. The girl, in particular, was wide eyed and filled with wonder. The dark haired boy, though, was still shying away. That could be fixed. Ayano was good at fixing things, her teachers even said so.

Later that week Ayano managed to convince her mum, not dad, to buy three custom hoodies. They were several sizes too large, but they would do. There was plenty of room to grow.

* * *

Ayano was no longer a child when her mother passed on. It was weird and mysterious. In fact, in the months leading up to it, when her mother had fallen ill, her efforts in school dropped remarkably. Her father attempted to reprimand her, but it wasn't very convincing when he was barely managing to swallow back tears.

Her three younger siblings, now teenagers, looked on with heavy eyes that were just too similar to the first day they had met, all those years ago. But Ayano had to be strong. If she was happy, everyone else would be happy. Sometimes, she wondered whether that's what Shuuya thought, too.

However, there had been remarkable changes as the years had taken their toll. Tsubomi was now obviously the tallest by at least an inch but it looked like Kousuke was catching up fast. His gaze was steady, too, now that he had learned how to block out the constant stream of noise in his head which tormented him so in his first year of living with the Tateyama family. Ayano was proud.

Before her mother passed away, she had given Ayano two things:

One, the words "Be brave, Ayano."

And two: her red hair clips she use to cherish.

Red was the colour of heroes, but now it was time to pass on the legacy.

* * *

There was a knock on the door. Ayano was actually attempting to study for once when it happened, but she just couldn't. Not after what she had seen...

"Who is it?" She called. There was a meek answer.

"Kousuke."

Homework would have to wait. Ayano let her brother inside the room they always used to share when the were kids. Ayano heard a splat and vaguely realised it was raining.

"Sis..." Kousuke said, gripping his hands. "I- I don't wanna go to school anymore..."

"Why not?"

"The people there..." Kousuke trailed off. And despite her low grades, Ayano was sharp. She knew how sensitive Kousuke was. She knew people were bullying him.

"Are they giving you trouble?"

Kousuke shook his head. "Not really, but... They're thinking it..."

Ayano wrapped her arms around him and let him cry into her shoulder.

"I-I'm not brave enough to stand up to them... Even when they pulled on Neko-san's tail... O-or they started making rumours about Tsubomi-chan..."

Ayano knew, somehow, what she had to do. She un clipped the hair clips from her hair and gave them to her brother.

So much for continuing her mother's legacy. Hopefully Kousuke would do a better job of it.

"Be brave," She said, resting a firm hand on his shoulder. "Being brave doesn't mean fighting. It means always believing in what is right, no matter what anyone else thinks or says or does."

Kousuke rubbed his eyes. "B-but I'm not brave... Not like you, sis."

Ayano curled her had around her brother's just as her mother had done to her before she died. "These clips were mother's. Before she died, she gave them to me. She told me to be brave."

"But you're already brave!"

"No, I wasn't. I was scared. I was scared of losing mother. I was scared that I would lose you guys, too." Ayano swallowed. That fear was still there, deep inside of her. "She wanted me to carry on, and now I'm handing the responsibility on to you."

"Me?!" Kousuke looked around, as if there could have been someone else she was addressing. "Tsubomi's the second in command, though..."

Ayano just smiled and nodded in reassurance. "You need to brave for her, to teach her how to be brave."

Kousuke finally relented and clipped back his too-long fringe. He looked in the mirror.

"I'll get teased. They'll think I look stupid."

Ayano got up behind him and held his shoulders tall.

"No. You would be very brave to wear this. And, it means that wherever you go-" Now, Ayano almost choked up. "You'll always have me with you. And mother."

Kousuke smiled at that. "Thanks, sis."

* * *

**Aaa what is this thing. It's like fluff but not fluffy. Stupid headcanons. I actually have a few more which link in with this one but those are stories for another time. **

**Until then, see you later!**


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